Performance and Accountability Meeting - March

WHAT: Monthly Performance & Accountability Meeting (PAM) 

WHEN: Thursday 20 March 2025

WHERE: Watch it live or in the archive at our webcast portal

SOCIAL MEDIA: Join the conversation on Twitter using #SusPolScrutiny

This month’s Performance and Accountability Meeting (PAM) will be held on Thursday 20 March 2025.

As National Lead for Business & Retail Crime for the Association of Police & Crime Commissioners, PCC Katy Bourne has been driving the national response to tackle shoplifting and its associated anti-social behaviour and ensuring that PCCs include business crime as top priorities in their police and crime plans.

During this week’s PAM, PCC Bourne will ask how Sussex Police’s dedicated Business Crime Team are helping the force investigate and solve more shoplifting offences.

PCC Bourne will also discuss the overall rate of successful outcomes for shoplifting offences, noting it has increased to 15.9% in 2024 compared to 10.9% in 2023. She will ask how Sussex Police are seeking to improve the outcomes further as well as ask for examples of positive results achieved locally.

Sussex Police continue to lead on One Touch Reporting – a unique time-saving initiative currently being piloted with 24 Co-op stores and the National Business Crime Solution (NBCS) to make the reporting of business crime more efficient and effective. PCC Bourne will ask for an update on the use of One Touch Reporting and on the wider use of the DISC information and intelligence sharing platform by police and more businesses across the county.

Burglary will also be on the agenda. In Sussex, there were 5,379 burglaries recorded across the calendar year of 2024 – this equated to 189 fewer offences recorded [-3%] compared to 2023 [5,568]. PCC Bourne will ask what Sussex Police attribute the reduction in burglaries to and what the current risk of being burgled is in Sussex.

PCC Bourne will also ask questions and scrutinise the force on their approach to attend all home burglaries reported to them.

There will be scrutiny of the current deployment and effectiveness of the Sussex Police Rural Crime Team.

The full agenda for the March PAM is:

POLICE OFFICER MAINTENANCE GRANT 2024/25 – SECOND CHECKPOINT

BURGLARY

BUSINESS CRIME TEAM – SHOPLIFTING

PLANNING FOR UNAUTHORISED ENCAMPMENTS

DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE CHECKS – REVISITED